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Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 16

Sep 212012

One of my favorite things about the Fresh Fork CSA is that we are permitted to take up to 4 weeks of vacation. I am definitely one who needs all 4 weeks. This week, I’m in Baltimore, so we aren’t going to be able to use/pick up our share. Usually, when I’m on vacation from my pickup, I am very sad to be missing one or two of the items. This week, I finally feel like I picked a great week to be on vacation.

Don’t get me wrong, I love most of the items on the list. But, many of them are either things we’ve been getting all summer or items that are just starting to appear. The only item that would have been new and fun would have been the mini Mira sweet corn. Maybe I’ll get lucky and still be able to obtain some of it.

I hope everyone enjoys their share this week. I’m hoping for lots of winter squash in the upcoming weeks.

Here’s what the large share is scheduled to receive this week:

1 whole pasture raised chicken
3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
1 bunch kale or 1 pint mixed color baby sweet peppers
2 ct. eggplant (1 if they are really large)
2 ct. red bell peppers
1 head green leaf lettuce
1-2 onions, depending on size
1 lb. dragon-tongue beans
2 ct. zucchini
6 ears mini Mira sweet corn
3 lbs. sweet potatoes
1-2 leeks
A handful Poblano peppers

Enjoy the change from summer to winter this weekend.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 14

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Sep 072012

We were back to our regular pick up this week at Mayfield High School. It’s the time of the year where there’s a changing of the guard with the truck staff. Today, we were greeted by Kirsten. It was nice to see her, but it was busy and we didn’t have time to chat. We can expect to see her at Mayfield for the rest of the season. That will be very nice.

Here’s an overview of what we received (minus the watermelon):

Here’s what we were expecting:

1 large watermelon
1 head green leaf lettuce
Approx. 2 eggplant
1 bunch carrots with tops
1 pint grape tomatoes or Approx. 1.5 lbs. heirloom tomatoes
1 quart concord grapes
Approx. 1 lb. red slicing tomatoes
1-2 onions depending on size
1 bulb garlic
1 lb. beans
1 lb. roasted red pepper linguini
Red peppers
1 lb. bacon breakfast patties
1 bunch leeks
3 lb. bag potatoes

The green beans are dark and rich in color. I think I’ll pull a roast out of the freezer for Sunday and serve them as a side dish. I’m tired of tomato season. It’s nice that farmers are figuring out ways to grow them longer during the growing season using hoop houses and such, but I don’t really care for tomatoes and I’ve been spending my energy elsewhere, so I have tons of frozen tomatoes in the freezer for chili, soup and other dishes and I’m looking forward to the end of adding to it.

I froze the grapes from last week in hopes that we would get them again. I’m going to make grape sorbet or jam with them.

Onion and garlic is status quo at this point. They’ll end up in soup or fajitas this week.

I’ll probably use the carrot and leek in our tomato soup. Nick had fun making it last time, so I thought I’d let him cut up veggies for it again.

I’m going to roast the peppers and add them into a white sauce to serve over the pasta. It’s red pepper linguini, so that should mesh nicely.

I’ll be cooking the breakfast patties soon since we let them thaw when we were out this evening. I’m always at a loss for egg plant. I’ll probably roast it with onions, beets and other veggies tomorrow and see if something else inspires me.

The potatoes will go great with our roast. The lettuce will make a couple of good salads.

I’m glad to see that melon season isn’t quite over. This will be great to have around this weekend. It’s on the larger size, but I suspect it will be gone by Monday.

I’m hoping to cook at home a lot this weekend. We have lots of great looking stuff to use this week.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 11

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Aug 172012

This marks week 11 of our Fresh Fork Market CSA. It’s hard to believe that we are 1/2 way through the season.

Since I was in Utah earlier in the week, I opted to take a vacation week this week. Occasionally, I take a vacation week when we are having busy week or if I feel behind on veggies even if I am actually in town on pick up day.. Then, I usually hold my breath and hope that Trevor doesn’t send out the “best bag of the season” list two days later since vacation requests are due on Saturday and the list usually comes out on Monday.

Here’s what folks received in their bags this week:

3# bag red Norland potatoes
1/2 dozen sweet corn
1 bunch leeks (may be 1 leek depending on size)
1 bulb fennel
Approx. 1.5 lbs. heirloom tomatoes
2 oz basil
Approx. 2 lbs. slicing tomatoes
1 lb. grass-fed ground beef
Approx. 2 lbs. peaches
1-2 eggplant, depending on size
2 zucchini or squash
1-2 onions
2-3 “Italian frier” peppers (red sweet stuffing peppers)
1 melon – choice of cantaloupe or watermelon
1/2 lb. Swiss chard
1 bulb garlic
1 piece Havarti cheese

I’ve been hearing from other people who do CSAs that they have too much food or are too busy to get it all used. I can’t say that we are perfect in our house, but we are pretty good at blanching, chopping and freezing items to make sure we don’t waste food when we are particular busy or have an over abundance.

Almost all of the above items could be froze with little effort. I love pulling items out of the freezer in the middle of winter and getting a taste of fresh local food.

I think every bag is outstanding, but this is a bag that has lots of items that we get on a fairly regular basis. I am happy with my decision to be on vacation. With a little luck, I’ll get a photo of a large share tomorrow and add a photo to my post.

Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 12

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Mar 292012

We were a bit early for our pick up today. I took the opportunity to chat with Eric, who works at the back of the truck. I really enjoy meeting people who are passionate about local foods. It was a bit chilly for the pick up, but at least it wasn’t raining.

Here’s what we were expecting to receive this week:

1 Grassfed beef steak
1 pt. concord grape jelly
1 12oz piece Swiss cheese
2 lbs. spelt flour
3 lbs. red potatoes
1 lb. spinach pasta
1 bunch kale or mustard greens
1 bag mixed salad greens
1/4 lb. ramps

Here’s a group shot:

Grape jelly is probably my favorite flavor in the jelly/jam category. I hope to hoard most of this for myself and use it on French toast and PP&J sandwiches. I’m going to try and make homemade tortillas with the spelt flour. My recipe works well with whole wheat flour, so I thought I’d try the spelt.

We’ll probably just make mashed potatoes this week. Unless my new slicer comes in, then I might try out some microwavable potato chips. I tossed the pasta into the freezer. It will make for a nice quick meal when we need it this week.

I’ve never met a local, grass-fed cheese that I didn’t like. I suspect this new Swiss will be great. So far, Swiss is the only cheese that Sally won’t eat. Maybe this variety will change her mind. I think the kale will go into a casserole dish that I’m still dreaming up in my head.

The steak is frozen, so I put it in the freezer. When we get another stretch of warm weather, we’ll grill it for dinner one night. The winter greens aren’t my favorite, but I’m going to try to make a chopped salad out of them. I’m not a big fan of the texture of the stems, but a chopped version in a roll up is sounding good to me.

The final item this week is ramps. In a nutshell, ramps grow wild this time of year and are similar to a leek. I’ll use them as an onion type of ingredient with fried potatoes or soup this week.

I bought a couple of extras this week as well. At $5 a piece, I picked up 3 yogurts and one Krispie Treat Granola. I can’t seem to keep the yogurt in stock at our house. One of the Heinen’s stores near me carries it, but I like to buy it from Fresh Fork whenever possible. These 3 containers probably won’t last until the next pick up.

I’m starting to get excited for the summer CSA. Only 2 more months away.

Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 7

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Jan 192012

Today, since I was in Akron spending time with family, Stephen and the kids picked up our Fresh Fork CSA. Again, there wasn’t any rain, but there was lots of snow this week. It sounds like the pick up was smooth. Thanks to Stephen for taking the photos for this week.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

1 slab Berkshire spare ribs, approx. 2.5 lbs.
1 pint homemade BBQ sauce
1 lb. stew beef
1 8-oz. portion mixed salad greens
3 lbs. roasting potatoes
2 lbs. organic spelt flour (substitute for your all purpose flour)
2 lbs. organic sweet corn, frozen
1 package Italian Sausage links, approx. 1.25 lbs.

Here’s a group shot:

We had some of this frozen corn at Thanksgiving time. It was so tasty. For now, this corn is in the freezer. We’ll eat the greens in the next couple of days. They look very fresh and tasty.

We put the ribs and sausage in the freezer also. With my grandpa’s funeral this week, we aren’t eating many meals at home.

Eventually, we’ll use the stew meat in some stew. The flour is easy to use in our everyday cooking.

This BBQ sauce was a hit this past summer. We didn’t get it in our share, so I’m glad we have the opportunity to try it. We were out of potatoes, so it will be easy to make a meal with this early next week.

Winter has arrived, so we have many shelf stable/freezer items this week. I’m glad that it will be easy to use everything without any waste. I plan to get back into the home eating cooking groove by Monday.

Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 4

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Dec 082011

Today, we had a great Fresh Fork CSA pick up. It was not busy when we arrived and we were in and out in a flash. Robert even carried our stuff to the car. Also, it was DRY! There was an almost full moon and no precipitation.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

1 bunch bok choy (approx. 8 oz.)
1 bunch leaf lettuce
1 bag mixed braising greens, approx. 0.75 lb.
3 count winter squash
2 lbs. onions
1 head broccoli
1 head cauliflower
1/2 lb. spinach or pak choy
1 bag corn chips
1 8-oz. wedge of Havarti or pepper Havarti from Mayfield Road Creamery
3 lbs potatoes, Yukon gold or Red Norland
Approx. 3# beef roast (we’ll have an assortment available)

Here’s a group shot:

Both the ground beef and the roast were frozen, so I just popped them in the freezer.

I really like caramelized onions and haven’t made them in a while. I think I’ll be having them soon. I’m also going to try a Shepard’s Pie with the potatoes.

We were supposed to get one head of cauliflower. I’m guessing we have two due to the size. They aren’t in the best shape, so I will be cooking them tomorrow. The winter squash look nice. We have an acorn, butternut and an orange Hubbard squash.

Bok choy has been being made Asian style for Stephen lately. I’m not sure if we will try something different or not.

The lettuce will go into taco salad. Fresh Fork posted a recipe on the braising greens. I think we’ll try it out this week. We get these weird mixed greens a lot during the winter.

These are two tiny heads of broccoli. I’m sure they are tasty and will disappear quickly. We had the return of the corn chips. We bought one extra bag ($3.5) not pictured.

This week’s share ended with local Harvarti cheese. All of the cheese from Mayfield Creamery has been great and I’m sure this will be no exception.

As you may recall, we we short a few items from our Thanksgiving package a couple of weeks ago. These items were delivered with our regular share today.

So, we have more of a few items and are glad to have apples back in stock. I’ll probably be cooking/freezing the winter squash and pumpkin in the next day or two to have for recipes in the winter.

The holiday ham and other package order form came out today. I’m not sure if we are going to order a ham this year. I’ll need to check with my folks to figure out our menu for Christmas.

I’m off to put the rest of our share away and clean the kitchen from dinner.

Geauga Family Farms–Winter CSA week 4

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Dec 032011

Today was the 4th pick up for the winter Geauga Family Farms CSA. Stephen took the kids for the pick up while I made a quick Kohl’s trip. We met up back at home where I quickly photographed before we headed to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Ironically, I had a class about sustainable eating and supporting the local food movement!

Here’s a group shot of what we received:

Let’s take a closer look:

Leaf lettuce, apples

Loaf of pumpkin bread, potatoes

Butternut squash, red leaf lettuce

Bok choy, collard greens

Beets

Aside for some mandarin oranges from yesterday’s Whole Food sale, a few potatoes and a couple of onions, we were out of everything fresh. So, today’s pick up was welcome in our fridge.

Both of the lettuces will go into salad. I’m thinking of using some leftover chorizo and beans and making some type of Mexican inspired salad. The apples will go into oatmeal. When we have apples available, we use them in our oatmeal. The rest of the time we use frozen or home-canned fruit.

Half of the pumpkin bread is already gone. It’s extremely good. We’ll have the potatoes as part of dinner one night this week. Since butternut squash is one that can be peeled, I’ll probably roast it in chunks with cinnamon, pepper and olive oil.

I’ve been making Asian bok choy for Stephen with garlic and sesame oil. He seems to like it and it gives him an Asian dish. Sesame is not really my thing.

I haven’t decided on a collards dish yet. We’ve tried several. It’s still hit or miss on whether we like the end product. Clearly, I need a consistent go to recipe for them.

We haven’t made Harvard beets lately, so I’ll be making them this week.

Originally, we were supposed to get eggs each week. They have new chickens and the production has not been as anticipated. I was surprised that we didn’t get them this week since we didn’t have a pick up last week. But, I have more than a dozen left from our other CSA, so we aren’t out yet.

We also placed an add on order for a half gallon of local maple syrup ($25). I’ve been reading up on making maple coated pecans and some eggnog type of beverages that used maple instead of sugar, so I thought we should stock up. It’s hard to believe that new maple syrup will be available in less than 4 months.

It’s nice to be stocked back up on fresh items. It’s hard to believe that there is only 2 weeks left of this short winter CSA.

Geauga Family Farms Winter CSA–week 2

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Nov 122011

Today was our pick up for week 2 of the winter Geauga Family Farms CSA. We had a full schedule for today and I just ran up to St. Noel without the kids to pick it up first thing this morning.

Here’s a group shot of what we received:

Potatoes, bok choy

Radishes, beets

Acorn squash, apples

1/2 dozen eggs, 2 small heads of lettuce

Dozen of chocolate chip cookies

We have quite a supply of potatoes at the moment. I’ll be rotating these into our storage and trying to make a couple of potato recipes this week. I’m thinking that some kind of Shepard’s pie may be in order. The last time we got bok choy, I cooked it in the crock pot with Asian spices (ginger and sesame oil) and served it to my husband with soba noodles and pork. He liked it. The rest of the family isn’t big on the sesame flavor.

We’re going to roast radishes this week. We’re also going to make Harvard beets. I think I have 2 bunches of both in the fridge right now.

Acorn squash is one of my favorite squash. I’ve been making a rue and adding squash puree and seasonings for use over whole wheat pasta. It will be lunch a couple of days this week.

We’re still using apples in our oatmeal everyday while the season is still here.

We were out of eggs and I’m cooking my dish ahead for Thanksgiving tomorrow so the eggs will disappear quickly. The lettuce will be eaten with salad.

The cookies are GONE!

Looks like another week of great, fresh, local food!

Geauga Family Farms–week 14

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Sep 132011

Today, we went to the “little” Whole Foods and picked up our Geauga Family Farms CSA. The kids totally know our routine. We usually need to buy something. Today, we bought yogurt. At the checkout, Nick and Sally each get a wooden nickel to donate to a charity since we bring a bag. They love putting a nickel in the slot to pick their charity. Then, they go straight to the CSA area which also is the children’s coloring area. They are also very interested in whatever we get in our box.

Here’s what we received today:

Let’s take a closer look. I couldn’t really fit everything in the photo.

Green beans, sweet corn

Potatoes, apples (Honeygold variety)

Bell peppers, dill

Poblano peppers, zucchini

Onions, hot peppers

Leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce

Eggplant, basil

Tomatoes

I’m leaving for Hawaii on Monday, so this week is all about food preservation. I’m cooking some meals for my family to enjoy while I am gone, but most of that work is done or planned. In addition to my trip, my husband is out of town tomorrow through Friday.

I’m going to blanch and freeze the green beans. I have others to freeze as well, so it’s worth the effort.

I plan to have some corn with the kids tomorrow and freeze the rest. There’s only 6 ears so that should be simple.

Unless I get ambitious, I’m going to store the potatoes. A few of the apples are already mixed in with the sauce that I was making tonight. The rest will be going into apple-plum sauce tomorrow. We picked plums yesterday, so I need to make something with them.

I’ll going to make fajitas and use some peppers and onions this week. I’ll freeze the rest.

I’m going to make some basil/olive oil cubes for the freezer with the basil. It will be handy for winter soup and tomato sauce dishes.

I already froze the tomatoes. I just washed them, cored, and quartered them. I’ll make a saucy dish with them in a couple of week.

The lettuce will get eaten in salads. I’ll either blanch and freezer the eggplant or make mini eggplant pizzas. It all depends on the rest of the items are going.

I’ll need to research the dill. Usually, I use it in pickles, but I don’t have any cucumbers.

It’s going to be a busy week here. I have a to do list that’s a mile long before my trip.

Geauga Family Farms–week 13

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Sep 062011

Today, we picked up our Geauga Family Farms CSA. I was glad that we remembered it was Tuesday. It feels like a Monday since yesterday was the Labor Day Holiday. It’s week 13 already. I think we have 20 weeks total.

Here’s what we received:

Let’s take a closer look.

Cabbage, sweet corn

Potatoes, yummy SWEET oranges peppers

Swiss chard, watermelon!

2 varieties of leaf lettuce

Tomatoes, yellow squash

Carrots, green peppers

This week looks superb! Everything was vibrant, fresh, and we had a rainbow of colors in our box.

I’m hoping that we get apples from our other CSA this week and I can make my coleslaw recipe with the cabbage. I have all of the other ingredients on hand. I’ll be cooking the sweet corn tomorrow or Thursday.

After juicing 100 pounds of Roma tomatoes for sauce over the weekend, this amount of tomatoes doesn’t seem like very many to me. I’ll probably just use a couple in salad and juice the rest for some ketchup or BBQ sauce.

I don’t really have specific plans for the other items, but we’ll be eating well this week!

PS – Yes, we got another watermelon. Yes, I am HAPPY about it!

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